Guidelines

Guidelines for a Grassroots Review of Global Trade Regulation

The Global Trade Regulatory Review is a constructive effort to improve the regulation of international trade and, toward that end, some guidelines will help grassroots members collectively achieve these goals. (click on each guideline for more information)

1. Look first to your own compliance.

It is an easy temptation to want to shift the blame from ones own lack of compliance effort to a government agency that has taken interest in your compliance. An effective review of regulatory efforts is best received when it comes from a market participant which has made an appropriate compliance effort. However, an alleged breakdown in compliance does not justify a breakdown in the regulatory process including due process.

2. Identify the purpose behind any regulatory effort.

A fair and effective review of the government’s regulatory effort requires an objective examination of the purported purpose behind any such effort. Understanding the regulatory goals is the first step toward evaluating the relative priority of those goals, the means toward achieving those goals, the deficiencies in those means and goals and the range of possible improvements that can be identified.

3. Understand the effect of resource limitations on regulatory efforts.

A constructive review of the regulatory efforts of agencies responsible for global trade compliance must also look realistically at the circumstances in which those agencies operate. Resource limitations, political considerations and other pressures shape the regulatory environment and, accordingly, must be identified and candidly discussed.

4. Offer a constructive alternative.

Ultimately, the purpose behind the Global Trade Regulatory Review is to propose and seek implementation of constructive alternatives to regulatory efforts that are deficient. Some of these improvements may be accomplished at the local or national agency level while others will take review at higher levels. No matter what the situation, constructive improvement in global trade regulation will only come through the identification of regulatory deficiencies and the constructive proposal of alternatives.